IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i22p9749-d449421.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Current (2020) and Long-Term (2035 and 2050) Sustainable Potentials of Wood Fuel in Switzerland

Author

Listed:
  • Matthias Erni

    (Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Vanessa Burg

    (Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Leo Bont

    (Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Oliver Thees

    (Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Marco Ferretti

    (Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Golo Stadelmann

    (Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Janine Schweier

    (Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

Abstract

Wood fuel has become central in environmental policy and decision-making processes in cross-sectoral areas. Proper consideration of different types of woody biomass is fundamental in forming energy transition and decarbonization strategies. We quantified the development of theoretical (TPs) and sustainable (SPs) potentials of wood fuel from forests, trees outside forests, wood residues and waste wood in Switzerland for 2020, 2035 and 2050. Ecological and economic restrictions, timber market situations and drivers of future developments (area size, tree growth, wood characteristics, population growth, exporting/importing (waste wood)) were considered. We estimated a SP of wood fuel between 26.5 and 77.8 PJ/a during the three time points. Results demonstrate that the SP of wood fuel could be significantly increased already in the short term. This, as a moderate stock reduction (MSR) strategy in forests, can lead to large surpluses in SPs compared to the wood fuel already used today (~36 PJ/a), with values higher by 51% (+18.2 PJ) in 2020 and by 59% (+21.3 PJ) in 2035. To implement these surpluses (e.g., with a cascade approach), a more circular economy with sufficient processing capacities of the subsequent timber industries and the energy plants to convert the resources is required.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthias Erni & Vanessa Burg & Leo Bont & Oliver Thees & Marco Ferretti & Golo Stadelmann & Janine Schweier, 2020. "Current (2020) and Long-Term (2035 and 2050) Sustainable Potentials of Wood Fuel in Switzerland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-30, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9749-:d:449421
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9749/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9749/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Long, Huiling & Li, Xiaobing & Wang, Hong & Jia, Jingdun, 2013. "Biomass resources and their bioenergy potential estimation: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 344-352.
    2. Nina Hagemann & Erik Gawel & Alexandra Purkus & Nadine Pannicke & Jennifer Hauck, 2016. "Possible Futures towards a Wood-Based Bioeconomy: A Scenario Analysis for Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, January.
    3. Bowditch, Euan & Santopuoli, Giovanni & Binder, Franz & del Río, Miren & La Porta, Nicola & Kluvankova, Tatiana & Lesinski, Jerzy & Motta, Renzo & Pach, Maciej & Panzacchi, Pietro & Pretzsch, Hans & , 2020. "What is Climate-Smart Forestry? A definition from a multinational collaborative process focused on mountain regions of Europe," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    4. Evelina Trutnevyte & Céline Guivarch & Robert Lempert & Neil Strachan, 2016. "Reinvigorating the scenario technique to expand uncertainty consideration," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 373-379, April.
    5. Fengli Zhang & Dana M. Johnson & Jinjiang Wang & Shuhai Liu & Shimin Zhang, 2018. "Measuring the Regional Availability of Forest Biomass for Biofuels and the Potential of GHG Reduction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, January.
    6. Vanessa Burg & Gillianne Bowman & Stefanie Hellweg & Oliver Thees, 2019. "Long-Term Wet Bioenergy Resources in Switzerland: Drivers and Projections until 2050," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    7. Abasian, Foroogh & Rönnqvist, Mikael & Ouhimmou, Mustapha, 2019. "Forest bioenergy network design under market uncertainty," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    8. Vávrová, Kamila & Knápek, Jaroslav & Weger, Jan, 2017. "Short-term boosting of biomass energy sources – Determination of biomass potential for prevention of regional crisis situations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 426-436.
    9. Jarre, Matteo & Petit-Boix, Anna & Priefer, Carmen & Meyer, Rolf & Leipold, Sina, 2020. "Transforming the bio-based sector towards a circular economy - What can we learn from wood cascading?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    10. Li, Yu & Rezgui, Yacine & Zhu, Hanxing, 2017. "District heating and cooling optimization and enhancement – Towards integration of renewables, storage and smart grid," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 281-294.
    11. Steubing, B. & Zah, R. & Waeger, P. & Ludwig, C., 2010. "Bioenergy in Switzerland: Assessing the domestic sustainable biomass potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(8), pages 2256-2265, October.
    12. Van Meerbeek, Koenraad & Muys, Bart & Hermy, Martin, 2019. "Lignocellulosic biomass for bioenergy beyond intensive cropland and forests," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 139-149.
    13. Adriana Marcucci & Lin Zhang, 2019. "Growth impacts of Swiss steering-based climate policies," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 155(1), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Algieri, Angelo & Andiloro, Serafina & Tamburino, Vincenzo & Zema, Demetrio Antonio, 2019. "The potential of agricultural residues for energy production in Calabria (Southern Italy)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Hussain, C.M. Iftekhar & Norton, Brian & Duffy, Aidan, 2017. "Technological assessment of different solar-biomass systems for hybrid power generation in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P2), pages 1115-1129.
    3. Vanessa Burg & Gillianne Bowman & Stefanie Hellweg & Oliver Thees, 2019. "Long-Term Wet Bioenergy Resources in Switzerland: Drivers and Projections until 2050," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    4. Kang, Yating & Yang, Qing & Bartocci, Pietro & Wei, Hongjian & Liu, Sylvia Shuhan & Wu, Zhujuan & Zhou, Hewen & Yang, Haiping & Fantozzi, Francesco & Chen, Hanping, 2020. "Bioenergy in China: Evaluation of domestic biomass resources and the associated greenhouse gas mitigation potentials," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    5. Di Letizia, Gerardo & De Lucia, Caterina & Pazienza, Pasquale & Cappelletti, Giulio Mario, 2023. "Forest bioeconomy at regional scale: A systematic literature review and future policy perspectives," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    6. Xin Zhang & Yun-Ze Li & Ao-Bing Wang & Li-Jun Gao & Hui-Juan Xu & Xian-Wen Ning, 2020. "The Development Strategies and Technology Roadmap of Bioenergy for a Typical Region: A Case Study in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-25, February.
    7. Namsaraev, Z.B. & Gotovtsev, P.M. & Komova, A.V. & Vasilov, R.G., 2018. "Current status and potential of bioenergy in the Russian Federation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 625-634.
    8. Jan Banaś & Katarzyna Utnik-Banaś, 2022. "Using Timber as a Renewable Resource for Energy Production in Sustainable Forest Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-8, March.
    9. Yang, Lan & Wang, Xue-Chao & Dai, Min & Chen, Bin & Qiao, Yuanbo & Deng, Huijing & Zhang, Dingfan & Zhang, Yizhe & Villas Bôas de Almeida, Cecília Maria & Chiu, Anthony S.F. & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & W, 2021. "Shifting from fossil-based economy to bio-based economy: Status quo, challenges, and prospects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    10. Zhai, Jihua & Burke, Ian T. & Stewart, Douglas I., 2021. "Beneficial management of biomass combustion ashes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Ana Arias & Sara González‐García & Gumersindo Feijoo & Maria Teresa Moreira, 2022. "Tannin‐based bio‐adhesives for the wood panel industry as sustainable alternatives to petrochemical resins," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 627-642, April.
    12. Hallberg-Sramek, Isabella & Nordström, Eva-Maria & Priebe, Janina & Reimerson, Elsa & Mårald, Erland & Nordin, Annika, 2023. "Combining scientific and local knowledge improves evaluating future scenarios of forest ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    13. Mao, Guozhu & Zou, Hongyang & Chen, Guanyi & Du, Huibin & Zuo, Jian, 2015. "Past, current and future of biomass energy research: A bibliometric analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1823-1833.
    14. Vasiliki Tzelepi & Myrto Zeneli & Dimitrios-Sotirios Kourkoumpas & Emmanouil Karampinis & Antonios Gypakis & Nikos Nikolopoulos & Panagiotis Grammelis, 2020. "Biomass Availability in Europe as an Alternative Fuel for Full Conversion of Lignite Power Plants: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-26, July.
    15. Huda, A.S.N. & Mekhilef, S. & Ahsan, A., 2014. "Biomass energy in Bangladesh: Current status and prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 504-517.
    16. Du, Shilin & Shu, Rui & Guo, Feiqiang & Mao, Songbo & Bai, Jiaming & Qian, Lin & Xin, Chengyun, 2022. "Porous coal char-based catalyst from coal gangue and lignite with high metal contents in the catalytic cracking of biomass tar," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    17. Heiskanen, Aleksi & Hurmekoski, Elias & Toppinen, Anne & Näyhä, Annukka, 2022. "Exploring the unknowns – State of the art in qualitative forest-based sector foresight research," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    18. Kütt, Lauri & Millar, John & Karttunen, Antti & Lehtonen, Matti & Karppinen, Maarit, 2018. "Thermoelectric applications for energy harvesting in domestic applications and micro-production units. Part I: Thermoelectric concepts, domestic boilers and biomass stoves," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 519-544.
    19. Bergthorson, Jeffrey M. & Thomson, Murray J., 2015. "A review of the combustion and emissions properties of advanced transportation biofuels and their impact on existing and future engines," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1393-1417.
    20. Pieper, Henrik & Ommen, Torben & Elmegaard, Brian & Brix Markussen, Wiebke, 2019. "Assessment of a combination of three heat sources for heat pumps to supply district heating," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 156-170.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9749-:d:449421. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.